Against the Rules Read online

  “Here!” Someone slapped a wet towel across her face and she dashed into the murky interior, coughing even through the towel as the acrid smoke sifted into her lungs. She couldn’t feel any heat, though, but now wasn’t the time to look for any flames; the horses came first.

  The frightened animals were rearing in their stalls and kicking at the wood that held them. Cathryn fumbled for a door and opened it, squinting through the smoke at the horse and recognizing it as Redman, Rule’s favorite. “Easy, easy,” she crooned, taking a deep breath and whipping the towel away from her face to drape it over the horse’s eyes. He calmed down enough to let her lead him swiftly out of the stable into the fresh air. Behind her, other horses were being led out in a quick, remarkably quiet operation. Willing hands helped settle the animals down.

  The fire was caught while it was still smoldering. Luckily it hadn’t gotten into the hay or the entire stable would have gone up in minutes. A young man whom Rule had hired only two months before discovered the source of the smoke in the tack room, where a fire had started in a trash can and spread to the saddle blankets and leather. The tack was ruined, the room blackened and scorched, but everyone breathed a sigh of relief that it hadn’t been any worse than it was.

  Astonishingly, Rule seemed to have been undisturbed by the commotion. Probably the whirr of the air-conditioner had masked the noise. Cathryn sighed, knowing that she would have to tell him, and knowing that he would be enraged. A fire in the stables was something that wouldn’t have happened if he had been in charge. Knowing that the boss was out of commission, someone had gotten careless with a match or a cigarette, and only luck had prevented things from being much worse. As it was, a great deal of tack would have to be replaced. She had tried so hard to take up the slack, and then something like this had to happen.

  Lorna’s comforting arm slipped around her drooping shoulders. “Come on back to the house, Cathryn. You could use a good hot bath. You’re black from head to foot.”

  Looking down, Cathryn saw that her crisp clothing, donned only a short time earlier, was now grimy with soot. She could feel the ash on her face and in her hair.

  The feeling that she had let Rule down grew stronger as she stood under the shower. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what he would say when she told him.

  He had turned on the small radio by his bed, and that had kept him from being disturbed. He looked at her when she opened the door and his eyes narrowed at the strained expression on her face. He took in her wet hair and different clothing and set his jaw.

  “What happened?” he ground out.

  “There was a...a fire in the tack room,” she stammered, coming a hesitant step closer. “It didn’t spread,” she assured him quickly, seeing the black horror that spread across his face. “The horses are all fine. It’s just the...the tack room. We lost just about everything in there.”

  “Why wasn’t I told?” he asked through clenched teeth.

  “I—it was my decision. There was nothing you could do. We got the horses out first and—”

  “You went into the stable?” he barked, heaving himself up on his elbow and wincing at the pain the movement caused him. Red fires were beginning to burn in the dark depths of his eyes, and suddenly she felt chills running down her back. He was more than angry; he was maddened, his fists clenching.

  “Yes,” she admitted, feeling tears form in her eyes. Hastily she blinked them away. She wasn’t a child to burst into tears whenever she was yelled at. “The flames hadn’t spread beyond the tack room, thank God, but the horses were frightened and—”

  “My God, woman, are you stupid?” he roared. “Of all the reckless, half-witted things to do...!”

  She was stupid, because the tears rolled down her cheeks anyway. “I’m sorry,” she choked. “I didn’t mean to let it happen!”

  “Then what did you mean? Can’t I let you out of my sight for a minute?”

  “I said I’m sorry!” she gasped at him, and suddenly she couldn’t stand there and listen to the rest of it. “I’ll be back later,” she sobbed. “I have to send someone to town for more tack.”

  “Damn it, come back here!” he was roaring, but she scooted out the door and slammed it behind her. She slapped at the wetness on her cheeks, then went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face until most of the redness had faded. She wanted nothing more than to hide in her room, but pride stiffened her back. There was work to be done, and she wasn’t about to let someone else shoulder the burden for her.

  CHAPTER 11

  Someone had notified Lewis, and the pickup came tearing across the pasture and slid to a stop in the yard. Lewis was out of it in a flash, taking Cathryn’s arm in a hold that was painfully tight. “What happened?” he asked, tight-lipped.

  “The tack room caught on fire,” she said wearily. “We got it before it spread, but the tack is ruined. All the horses are okay.”

  “Hell,” he swore. “Rule will be fit to be tied.”

  “He already is.” She tried to smile. “I told him a little while ago. Fit to be tied is putting it mildly.”

  He swore again. “Have you found out how it started?”

  “The trash can caught on fire somehow; it looks as if the fire started there.”

  “Who’s been in the tack room this morning? More importantly, who was in there last?”

  She looked at him blankly. “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought to ask.”

  “When I find out who’s responsible he can start looking for another job. No one, but no one, is supposed to smoke around a stable.”

  It seemed to Cathryn that no one would ever admit to smoking and causing the fire, but from the determined expression on Lewis’s face, someone had better confess or everyone was in trouble. She found that she couldn’t summon enough energy to care. She looked around vaguely, noticing that Ricky hadn’t cared, either; she was walking to the house, twisting her hair up and pinning it carelessly on top of her head.

  The stench of smoke still lingered on the hot, breezeless air, keeping the horses restless. Dull thuds reverberated through the stable as the nervy animals kicked at the stalls that held them. Everyone was kept busy trying to calm them and keep them from injuring themselves. Cathryn gave up trying to keep Redman settled down and led the big horse out of his stall, walking him around and around the yard. Part of his trouble was that he wasn’t used to being cooped up, but with Rule out of commission no one had been giving him the exercise he thought was rightfully his.

  Suddenly a ride seemed like just the thing. Cathryn was on the point of calling for a saddle when she remembered that there were no saddles left. She leaned her face into the horse’s muscular neck and sighed. A day that had begun so delightfully had turned into a nightmare, and it seemed that there would be no escape from it.

  Lewis was systematically questioning everyone who worked on the ranch, but Cathryn realized that the fire in the trash can could have smoldered for some time before actually blazing, and there were a lot of hands who were still out on the range, having left early that morning and not planning to return until dusk. She beckoned Lewis over to her. “Please, let it wait until later,” she requested, then explained her reasoning to him. “We’ve got a lot of work to do right now. We have to notify the insurance company and I’m sure they’ll want to do an on-site inspection.”

  Lewis was too sharp-eyed for anything to be hidden from him for long. He took a long, hard look at her and his stony expression softened slightly. “You’ve been crying, haven’t you? Don’t let it get to you. The fact that there was a fire at all is serious, but the damage could have been a lot worse.”

  “I know,” she said tightly. “But I should have checked everything and I didn’t. It was my fault that it got as out of hand as it did.”

  Lewis took Redman’s lead rope from her hand. “Your fault, hell! You can’t be expected to poke your nose into every corner—”

  “Rule would have spotted it.”

  He opened his mouth